(Monsignor William Lynn during his trial in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 31, 2012. REUTERS/Scott Anderson)

A Pennsylvania court overturned the conviction of the first senior U.S. Roman Catholic Church official to be found guilty of covering up child sex abuse by a priest and ordered he be freed on Thursday.

Monsignor William Lynn was convicted in June 2012 of endangering the welfare of a child by reassigning a priest with a history of sexual abuse to a Philadelphia parish that was unaware of his past.

That priest, Edward Avery, later pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 10-year-old altar boy in the Philadelphia parish. Lynn, who was not accused of personally molesting children, was sentenced to a three-to-six-year prison term.

On Thursday, a unanimous Superior Court of Pennsylvania appeals panel reversed Lynn’s conviction and ordered him discharged from prison, saying the case was “not supported by sufficient evidence.”

Lynn’s attorney, Thomas Bergstrom, said the ruling demonstrated Lynn should never have been prosecuted, and added he expects Lynn to be released within days.

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said in a statement he would most likely appeal.

This decision is a travesty of justice. Crimes against children are so heinous that accused pedophiles like Sylvain Kustyan, Jerry Sandusky, Jimmy Saville, etc. and their ENABLERS must be apprehended before they have years to continue to destroy young lives, Sandusky is now safely behind bars. But unfortunately, Kustyan, who has been formally charged with two counts each of 1st Degree Sodomy and Sexual Abuse of a ten-year-old little boy, fled to avoid imminent arrest. Kustyan, formerly of Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Hermin/ Mazingarbe, France,as an English teacher, has led numerous groups of schoolchildren on trips to the US, the UK and Ireland.. Pedophiles condemn their victims to a lifetime of emotional and psychological trauma and often permanent physical ailments as well. Since the average pedophile has 300 different victims in their lifetime and since the recidivism rate among pedophiles is virtually 100% and since there is no effective treatment and no known cure they must be stopped ASAP!